Ranma's Sunny Place
by Seraphim Doan
Summary: Rewritten of Love Hina with Ranma twist help from a prewriter.


It was a perfect summer day. The sun warmed the body as the sound of  
  
birds warmed the spirit. Ranma breathed deep and allowed the peace to flow  
  
through him as he walked along.  
  
It had been a month since the failed wedding. A month in which things  
  
progressed from bad to even worse. Mousse and Ryoga were more persistent  
  
in their challenges, the fiancees were more persistent in their attempts  
  
to win him, and Akane had dumped all of it squarely onto him. It was enough.  
  
Ranma had picked up his pack and headed west out of Tokyo. The mountains  
  
would be a good place to try and regain his balance and decide what to do.  
  
He had crossed into Kanagawa prefecture some time ago and now found  
  
himself strolling through Hinata City. Ranma checked his remaining cash.  
  
He was low on supplies, but Nabiki had made sure he never had much in  
  
the way of funds. He was surprised at how much he had managed to hide from  
  
the girl, meager as it was. He shook his head; it would not last very long.  
  
It would pose no problem to his pop - Genma would simply steal what he  
  
needed. Ranma was damned if he'd turn out like his father.  
  
But that left only one option - he needed a job.  
Ranma's Sunny Place  
  
by Seraphim Doan  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2, Love Hina, and Sailor Moon are copyright of their  
  
respective owners. The author in no way implies either ownership or  
  
permission to use the characters or settings. However, since the author  
  
is poor as sin, he would appreciate their looking the other way for the  
  
duration of this tale.  
  
Notes: The timeline for this is as follows - it is a couple years after  
  
Sailor Stars, a month after the end of the Ranma manga, and a few years  
  
before the start of the Love Hina manga. Don't expect to see your favorite  
  
Love Hina tenants in this story... at least, right off the bat.  
Prologue: One Day, Destined Forever  
  
Ranma quickly found out the problem with looking for work in a small  
  
city - the only jobs open for someone in his position were menial tasks  
  
that would detract from his training. Where the sun had been pleasant  
  
before, walking under it all day in a frustrating exercise in futility  
  
was starting to get to him. Spying a small park with a fountain, Ranma  
  
decided it was time to cool off and relax. He started by dunking his head  
  
into the fountain. Ranma sighed in relief as the cool water ran down her  
  
neck. Now a red-headed girl, Ranma sat in the grass to relax and meditate.  
  
"Excuse me, Dear. I couldn't help but notice your pack."  
  
Ranma looked up to see an elderly lady.  
  
The lady smiled and continued. "Are you just passing through, or  
  
were you thinking of staying a while?"  
  
Ranma brushed her wet bangs back. "I was thinking of sticking around  
  
to make a little money before continuing, but work's kinda hard to come  
  
by around here."  
  
The old woman's smile widened. "Why, I have _just_ the thing! You  
  
see, I own a small inn here in Hinata City, but I have to leave for a  
  
few months on family business. Perhaps you would be so kind as to help  
  
an old lady in need?"  
  
Ranma thought about it. "Well..."  
  
"It doesn't pay much, but you do get room and board." The old lady  
  
sized up the girl. "You'd be managing the inn. Besides making sure that  
  
anything which broke got fixed, you might have to help with meals. The  
  
rest of the time would be your own."  
  
After an afternoon of fruitless searching, the perfect job had just  
  
landed in her lap. Ranma leapt at the offer.  
  
"I'll take it!"  
  
****  
  
The old woman lead Ranma up into the hills. Just past a cafe, some  
  
stairs lead up the hill to an old inn. They climbed the stairs to the  
  
inn where the old woman used a key to open the front door.  
  
"The ground floor gives access to the upper floors, and the kitchen  
  
is off to the right." The lady gestured appropriately. "If you keep going  
  
back, you'll wind up at the North building. There's a banquet room and  
  
the hot springs there."  
  
Ranma perked up at this. "You have a hot spring here?" Thoughts of  
  
easy access to hot water anytime she needed flitted through her head.  
  
The old woman nodded at the red-head. "Oh yes. It's one of the inn's  
  
main attractions." She gestured at the stairs leading up. "There are two  
  
floors up the stairs, with four rooms on each floor, two on either side  
  
of the stairs. An extension was recently added on the west side, giving  
  
two more rooms, one on each floor. The bathroom is behind the room on  
  
the second floor in the extension."  
  
Ranma committed the information to memory. She'd walk through the  
  
buildings later.  
  
The woman continued the tour. "The laundry is in the building to the  
  
west of this one. There's a clothes line on the roof where you can dry  
  
your things." The lady paused a moment before continuing. "If you go to  
  
the right through the dining room and kitchen, there's a stairway leading  
  
down to the Japanese Cafe we passed on the way here. My daughter Haruka  
  
runs the cafe and lives there. I had thought to have her watch the place,  
  
but she's so busy with the cafe..." She trailed off.  
  
Ranma nodded. She turned to find the woman in a Hawaiian shift and  
  
a straw hat. 'When had she found the chance to change?'  
  
Unaware of Ranma's thoughts, the woman pressed a key in the girl's  
  
hands. She grabbed a suitcase Ranma had failed to notice when they had  
  
entered.  
  
"The tenants will be moving in over the next few days." She had  
  
a plane ticket in hand now. "Well, bye!" The woman hurried off, a trail  
  
of dust showing her passage away from the inn.  
  
Ranma blinked as the old woman vanished down the stairs. She shrugged  
  
and moved up the stairs. After checking out the rooms, she decided to take  
  
the one on the far left on the second floor, room two-oh-four. She'd make  
  
a manager's plaque for it later. Leaving her pack, she quickly headed for  
  
the hot springs.  
  
****  
  
Back in his uncursed form, Ranma climbed up to where the clothes  
  
line was. He hopped up to the roof over the laundry and caught his breath  
  
- the view was incredible from where he stood. To the north, a river ran  
  
through the hills to a waterfall near a shrine. Closer to the inn, a pond  
  
bordered the stairs running up to the shrine.  
  
Ranma smiled as he stretched out on the roof, catching the last of  
  
the evening sun. He was going to like it here.  
-------------------------------------------------------------------------  
  
Prereader: Joseph Fenton jlfenton65@yahoo.com  
  
Thank you! YAY, I got a PREREADER! Thank you!!! 


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